The long-overdue elimination of Daniel Seavey finally occurred on American Idol. Now that the weakest singer of season 14 is no longer in the competition, where do we go from here? There are some contestants that obviously don’t have much time left on the show — the two that first come to mind are Rayvon Owen and Qaasim Middleton.
After seeing girl after girl after girl head home, a guy finally got the boot with Daniel’s exit. When you look at the remaining girls, it’s hard to imagine any of them being cut right now, but could that happen (with Tyanna)?
The Kelly Clarkson theme ended up being a fairly strong night overall, so this one might be a little harder to predict. Then again, maybe the singers who have been most in danger lately will still be in that position despite stronger performances. Let’s take a look the remaining contestants’ chances of staying, being in danger and going home.
American Idol Recap: The Top 9 (and Kelly Clarkson) Sing the Songs of Kelly Clarkson >>>
Definitely Safe
Jax: Jax was certainly no disaster covering Kelly Clarkson’s “Beautiful Disaster.” Outside of a couple moments where her voice went off, she succeeded in delivering a beautiful, intimate and vulnerable performance. I would not be saying any of this if she had gone with the original arrangement. She smartly went with the acoustic version that Kelly has done before, and it paid off.
Joey Cook: For me, Joey had the best performance of the night. Whereas Tyanna still hasn’t found her footing after stumbling, Joey and Jax both have recovered in a really good way. We all know “Miss Independent” as Kelly Clarkson’s first post-Idol single from her debut album, and it’s very pop/rock. I have never heard it sung as a jazz number, but you know what? Of course Joey could pull it off. She’s not going anywhere.
Quentin Alexander: “Dark Side” isn’t as well known as, say, “Since U Been Gone,” “Breakaway” or “Mr. Know It All,” but regardless of your familiarity with it, Quentin delivered one of the best performances of the night, for sure, and definitely one of Quentin’s best. I was amazed with how strong he was vocally, and that should carry him into the Top 7.
Clark Beckham: Many, if not most, of Kelly Clarkson’s songs are pop/rock, but looking at her catalog, there are a lot of other genres as well: blues, soul, country, etc. If Clark had gone with another song, there’s a good chance he might have missed the mark, but he smartly went with “The Trouble with Love Is” because this is more on the soulful side, which fits him perfectly. The highlight of the performance was towards the end when Clark was really digging for those notes and you couldn’t help but get into it.
In the Middle
Tyanna Jones: Tyanna will probably be safe, but if she doesn’t get back to the kinds of performances we’ve loved from her, she could find herself slipping into the danger zone. There were pitch problems in “Mr. Know It All,” but fortunately she kept them within the first half of the song. If I had to give this one word, I’d say ‘competent’ because it wasn’t bad at all. I’m just really hoping she can get back on top soon, preferably with her next performance.
In Danger
Nick Fradiani: I’m hesitant to put Nick in the danger category. But there are a handful of things going against him right now: “Catch My Breath,” which I love, was not the right song choice for him because it didn’t give him the opportunity to make his voice shine. Also, he performed first on a night with quite a few strong performances. Maybe he has a strong enough fan base to keep him around, but if he does land in the Bottom 2, it’ll be easy to see why.
Qaasim Middleton: With Daniel gone, all eyes are on Qaasim, the other weak singer in the competition. I said last time that he’s “not in a good position right now,” and I still echo that statement this time. While I wouldn’t put his rendition of “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” as one of the top performances of the episode, he wasn’t bad by any means, which goes back to what I’ve said about this being a really good night overall. I love that Qaasim did a stripped-down version. His vocal issues crept up mainly in the middle of the song.
Rayvon Owen: I don’t know what to make of Rayvon’s chances right now. He’s been in the Bottom 3/Bottom 2 for the past two weeks (maybe more if we knew who was in the Bottom 3 for the weeks before that). This proves that he doesn’t have a very strong fan base, and his last days will be here sooner rather than later. What he has going for him right now, though: when the Bottom 2 performed, he got the final spot, and ended up performing a beautiful and vulnerable take on “Since U Been Gone” — who knew the arrangement of this pop/rock Kelly Clarkson hit could be changed so drastically like this and still work? That very well might be what saves him. Then again, if he’s in the Bottom 2 once more, I guess he’s beyond saving.
Elimination Prediction
Qaasim Middleton: If not this week, then next week, right? We don’t have to wonder anymore how long Daniel will last, so like I said, all eyes are on Qaasim. He had some really good moments in his “Stronger” performance, but is it enough? And will the Twitter voters be able to save him if he’s in the Bottom 2? Considering he had the lowest amount of votes a few weeks ago, I’d say he would have to really pull out a showstopper of a performance during Billboard Hits week to get the Twitter Save. If he’s up against Rayvon, it could be close.
Who do you predict will be eliminated? Are Qaasim and Rayvon most in danger? With Daniel finally out of the picture, how do you think the results will play out in the coming weeks? Share your predictions in the comments section below.
American Idol airs Wednesdays at 8pm on FOX.
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
Jeff Dodge, a graduate of Western Washington University, has been a TV news editor for many years and has had the chance to interview multiple reality show stars, including Randy Jackson, Nick Cannon, Heidi Klum, Mel B and John Cena.
